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Channel 4 2018 Alton Towers Documentary

My thoughts on last nights programme - it was an "easy" watch which would have satisfied the general public. Didn't tell us anything new, wasnt particularly interesting, a bit cringe with one or two people they focused on, and editing was a bit shoddy, particularly the bit where the ride was "F'd" on the lift hill, then cut to adverts, then nothing more about it.

The last segment I thought was very rushed. We had stupidly long ad breaks of 5 minutes each, and the last segment didnt start until 9:51 bearing in mind the programme finished at 10 (just before). So 8-9 minutes of final footage. Didnt show the actual opening day problems with the snow or the people turning up in the extreme weather.

Could have been better - but I think would have satisfied the needs of the GP.
 
I found the documentary interesting, but nothing special.

Great to spot some familiar faces on the program.

The program mentions that Alton built the new Wickerman to pull back in the guest to regain the public trust again. It's a shame that Alton/Merlin fails to see that you need more than a new ride to regain your guests trust. You also need some good old customer service and ensure that you run a park like it's the number 1 park in the world instead of running the Ride and park operations into the ground :rolleyes:

The program also "apparently" showed the opening day of the Wickerman, where the guy pushed his way through the turnstiles with no consideration or respect for the other guest to make sure that he was on the first ride of the day. Was I the only one expecting and wanting to see the disappointment on his face when the ride and most of the park never opened due to the poor weather.
 
GaryH said:
The last segment I thought was very rushed. We had stupidly long ad breaks of 5 minutes each, and the last segment didnt start until 9:51 bearing in mind the programme finished at 10 (just before). So 8-9 minutes of final footage. Didnt show the actual opening day problems with the snow or the people turning up in the extreme weather.
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To be fair, most, if not all, major channel 4 documentaries follow the same time format.
 
Agreed about the last 10 minutes. It felt like they had too much material and not enough time to do it justice, so loads of important bits went onto the cutting room floor.
 
It turns out my nan watched it last night too, because me and her had a nice conversation about it this morning. She said that Ian Crabbe came across well and she said "I didn't realise there were so many of you [theme park enthusiasts]" and she liked hearing about the different enthusiasts' stories. She especially liked "the girl studying engineering in university" (I'd presume she was referring to @Panda.) and "the man from Gloucester".

Overall, she said that she found it very interesting! Oh, and this isn't the same nan who longs for Chessington to be a zoo again!
 
Sauron97 said:
Yeah I agree that the portrayal of theme park enthusiasts as people who are using theme parks as an outlet for releasing trauma or escaping bullying hardly represents what is a very large range of people, that like theme parks for a variety of reasons. Having said that, at least it wasn't 12 year olds in tracksuits with fidget spinners :)
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Oh I don't know, I think that would've been far preferable...
 
Matt N said:
...and "the man from Gloucester".
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Born and bred and living in Gloucester myself, I didn't know an enthusiast of that scale lived here! Knowing our tabloid "local" newspaper (term used very loosely) I'm surprised they never picked up the fact a local man was on Channel 4. But then they are more interested in the current story "Gloucester schoolboy says he would have got better GCSE grades if he had less homework" :rolleyes:
 
Steve74 said:
Born and bred and living in Gloucester myself, I didn't know an enthusiast of that scale lived here! Knowing our tabloid "local" newspaper (term used very loosely) I'm surprised they never picked up the fact a local man was on Channel 4. But then they are more interested in the current story "Gloucester schoolboy says he would have got better GCSE grades if he had less homework" :rolleyes:
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I live in Gloucestershire too (albeit on the other end of it), so it was nice to see a reasonably local enthusiast, so to speak! Now all we need is a local theme park...
 
I was there on the day this was filmed as I remember waving to the camera man (git didnt use me though lol), and seeing some of the people on the day who featured in this clip. It was filmed on the Thursday 22nd March I believe.
 
GaryH said:
I was there on the day this was filmed as I remember waving to the camera man (git didnt use me though lol), and seeing some of the people on the day who featured in this clip. It was filmed on the Thursday 22nd March I believe.
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Same here, I too waved at the camera on the Thursday as they opened the ride during ERT, I too ended up on the cutting room floor.
 
I saw the camera crew on the Saturday it actually opened as well, they were filming just after Wickerman went down.
 
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